News: Two Connecticut Hospitals Planned Merger

August 24, 2011

St. Mary’s Hospital and Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut will merge into one hospital, officials told The Hartford Courant.

Financial stability, a state-of-the-art facility and increased patient services are the goals, said hospital officials at Waterbury Hospital. With them were the principals of the LHP Hospital Group of Plano, Texas, which has committed $400 million to building a new hospital within four years.

Officials have not said where the new facility will be built. Officials said there are three locations — either of the existing hospital sites or a third location yet to be determined.

The new hospital will be approximately 750,000 square feet, or enough to accommodate about 300 inpatients and outpatients per day — the average total number handled by both hospitals now. The two hospitals are not-for-profit, but after the merger, the new medical center — yet to be named — will be for-profit. LHP will have 80 percent ownership in the venture, and each hospital will own 10 percent.